Gauguin's double entendre nearly trips up the Tate Gallery

Artist Paul Gauguin is known for his bawdy sense of humour and bold paintings
of nude women, but his cheeky moniker has proved to be a headache for the
Tate Modern as it prepared for a new exhibition of his paintings.

Paul Gauguin's mischievous and often bawdy sense of humour has proved to be a headache for the Tate ModernPhoto: CORBIS

He is admired for his bold, sensual paintings of nude women, several of whom succumbed to his legendary sexual appetite.

But Paul Gauguin's mischievous and often bawdy sense of humour proved a headache for the Tate Modern as it prepared a major new exhibition of the Post-Impressionist painter.

During meetings to plan the merchandise for Gauguin: Maker of Myth which opens this week, gallery officials proposed the idea of producing a children's book featuring the painter's depictions of birds and animals.

It was suggested that the book carry the title "P Go", in reference to the way that Gauguin often signed his canvasses.

But plans for the idea were reassessed when it was pointed out that when pronounced in French, "P Go" sounds identical to "pego" which is a French sailors' slang word for penis.

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Christine Riding, the co-curator of Gauguin: Maker of Myth, recently recounted the near mishap on her blog.

She wrote: "When we were throwing around ideas about merchandising during the exhibition, someone came up with the lovely idea of commissioning a children's book, featuring Gauguin's animals, birds and etc, with the title 'P GO'.

"No doubt it conjured up images of cute little penguins or the like ('Pingu' anyone?) Until, that is, it was pointed out that the 'name' probably derived from nautical slang for penis.

"With someone as mischievous as Gauguin, you need to be on your guard."

In her book The pursuit of spiritual wisdom: the thought and art of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, Naomi E Maurer, an art historian and Gauguin expert explains why the artist, who served with the French merchant navy for six years, would have enjoyed the double entendre.

She writes: "Gauguin had a pet dog on the island [Tahiti] which was named Pego, an anagram on the French pronunciation of his own first initial and the first syllable of his last name which was also a way he frequently signed his pictures (P. Go or Gau).

"Given his strong sexual drives and his delight in undermining conventional respectability, he must have also enjoyed the fact that pego is the French sailors' slang word for penis."

A Tate spokesman said that plans for a children's book to accompany the exhibition had been dropped.

Gauguin: Maker of Myth is the first major exhibition in London devoted to the artist's work in over 50 years.

It will bring together more than 100 works from public and private collections around the world, including some of Gauguin's most celebrated paintings such as The Bathers and Nevermore O Tahiti.